UFC boss: Benson Henderson vs. Frankie Edgar II in the works for summer

UFC president Dana White today announced via Twitter that former UFC champ Frankie Edgar (14-2-1 MMA, 9-2-1 UFC) will get his wish and take a second shot at the man that took his belt in February, Benson Henderson (16-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC).

A date for the matchup has yet to be planned, but White said the fight will take place “this summer.”

Henderson earned a unanimous-decision win over Edgar in the main event of February’s UFC 144 event in Japan and was named the UFC lightweight champion.

Following a UFC 144 knockout of Joe Lauzon, Pettis had been declared the likely next contender, and White said he was going to encourage Edgar to drop to 145 pounds and face featherweight champ Jose Aldo. However, Edgar remained firm in his stance that he deserved a rematch, especially after granting rematches to Gray Maynard and B.J. Penn during his own title run.

“Frankie Edgar and Ben Henderson rematch will be this summer,” White wrote via Twitter.

Pettis had been expected to fight for the UFC belt when he came to the promotion as part of the shuttering of World Extreme Cagefighting. However, Edgar’s UFC 125 draw with Gray Maynard meant Pettis instead took on Clay Guida, who earned a unanimous-decision win over “Showtime.”

Pettis has since earned wins over Jeremy Stephens and Lauzon, but he’ll now need at least one more fight before challenging for the belt.

Meanwhile, May’s UFC on FOX 3 main-event bout between Nate Diaz and Jim Miller has been declared a No. 1 contender fight, so the winner should be in line for the victor of Henderson vs. Edgar II.
(Pictured: Frankie Edgar)

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